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Larry Aurie
Canadian | birth_date = February 8, 1905 | birth_place = Sudbury, ON, Canada | death_date = December 12, 1952 (age 47) | death_place = Detroit, MI, United States | career_start = 1926 | career_end = 1944 | halloffame = }} Lawrence Henry "Larry" Aurie (February 8, 1905 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada – December 12, 1952) was a Canadian professional right winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Cougars, Detroit Falcons and Detroit Red Wings. Playing career Aurie was considered by owner James Norris as the heart and soul of the Detroit NHL franchise from 1927 through 1938. He was known for his remarkable all-around play, goal-scoring achievements and for being instrumental in the Red Wings' winning their first two Stanley Cup championships in 1936 and 1937. Aurie began his professional hockey career in 1926 with the London Panthers of the Canadian Professional Hockey League (CPHL). The following season, he moved up to the NHL to play with Detroit. His dedication to off-season fitness with his short stature (5 foot 6 inches) earned him the nicknames "Little Dempsey" (for his fistic abilities) and "The Little Rag Man" (for his remarkable and entertaining ability to control or "rag" the puck during penalty killing). Twice during his career, Aurie led the Wings in assists and in 1933–34, his 35 points topped the club in scoring. He was third in NHL scoring with a career-high 46 points in 1934–35 and fourth overall in 1936–37 with 43 points. He and Herbie Lewis represented the Red Wings at the first ever NHL All Star Game in 1934. Aurie captained the team in the 1932–33 season, led the league in playoff scoring in 1934 with 10 points in nine games and led the league in goal scoring in 1937 with 23 while earning a first-team selection on the post-season NHL All-Star Team. He was part of the Wings' first big line, playing alongside center Marty Barry and left wing Lewis. His selfless play and hustle made him a favorite of owner James Norris. Aurie scored his NHL leading 23rd goal on March 11, 1937 in a 4–2 win over the New York Rangers, but later in the game fractured his leg in a collision with Rangers' defenceman Art Coulter, ending his season. Aurie's season leading scoring performance earned him a berth on the NHL First All-Star Team. Unfortunately, this was Aurie’s last strong season. The lingering effects of his fractured leg began to affect his play and in 1937–38, he dropped to 10 goals and 19 points and was forced to retire after the season at age 33. After the season, team owner James Norris decided to honor Aurie by retiring his jersey No. 6 - the first Detroit player to have this honor bestowed upon him. The following season, Aurie was named player-coach of Detroit’s AHL farm club, the Pittsburgh Hornets, but returned to the Red Wings for one final game on Jan. 10 - scoring the winning goal against Montreal in a 3–0 shutout at Detroit. Aurie would later go on to head coach the Oshawa Generals. Retirement Aurie's No. 6 jersey was officially retired by Wings owner James Norris after the 1937–38 season (he returned to play one more game for Detroit on Jan. 10, 1939), but was reissued once in the late 1950s to his cousin (not nephew as has been widely reported) Cummy Burton, with the family's blessing. Aurie died in Detroit on December 12, 1952, having suffered a stroke the previous evening. Awards & achievements * IAHL Second All-Star Team, 1939 * Led NHL in goals in 1936–37 * Named to NHL First All-Star Team, 1936–37 * Played in NHL All-Star Game, 1933–34 * Led Detroit in scoring, 1933–34 * Served as team captain, 1932–33 * Won the Stanley Cup (with Detroit) 1936, 1937 Career statistics --- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1926-27 London Panthers CPHL 0 14 7 21 0 -- -- -- -- -- 1927-28 Detroit Cougars NHL 44 13 3 16 43 -- -- -- -- -- 1928-29 Detroit Cougars NHL 35 1 1 2 26 2 1 0 1 2 1929-30 Detroit Cougars NHL 43 14 5 19 28 -- -- -- -- -- 1930-31 Detroit Falcons NHL 41 12 6 18 23 -- -- -- -- -- 1931-32 Detroit Falcons NHL 48 13 8 21 18 2 0 0 0 0 1932-33 Detroit Red Wings NHL 45 12 11 23 25 4 1 0 1 4 1933-34 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 16 19 35 36 9 3 7 10 2 1934-35 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 17 29 46 24 -- -- -- -- -- 1935-36 Detroit Red Wings NHL 44 16 18 34 17 7 1 1 2 2 1936-37 Detroit Red Wings NHL 45 23 20 43 20 -- -- -- -- -- 1937-38 Detroit Red Wings NHL 47 10 9 19 19 -- -- -- -- -- 1938-39 Detroit Red Wings NHL 1 1 0 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- 1938-39 Pittsburgh Hornets IAHL 39 8 19 27 16 -- -- -- -- -- 1939-40 Pittsburgh Hornets IAHL 39 12 12 24 12 -- -- -- -- -- 1940-41 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 6 0 3 3 2 -- -- -- -- -- 1943-44 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 1 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL Totals 489 148 129 277 279 24 6 8 14 10 Coaching statistics Season Team Lge Type GP W L T OTL Pct Result 1938-39 Pittsburgh Hornets IAHL Player-Head 54 22 28 4 0 0.44444 1939-40 Pittsburgh Hornets IAHL Head 56 25 22 9 0 0.52679 1940-41 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL Head 56 21 29 6 0 0.42857 Lost in round 2 1941-42 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL Head 56 23 28 5 0 0.45536 Out of Playoffs 1942-43 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL Head 56 26 24 6 0 0.51786 Lost in round 1 1943-44 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL Head 52 12 31 9 0 0.31731 Out of Playoffs Note # The NHL team in Detroit has had three names — Detroit Cougars (1926–1930), Detroit Falcons (1930–1932), and Detroit Red Wings (1932 to date) References External links * Category:Born in 1905 Category:Dead in 1952 Category:Detroit Cougars players Category:Detroit Falcons players Category:Detroit Red Wings players Category:Oshawa Generals coaches Aurie, Lary Aurie, Lary Category:Stanley Cup champions Category:National Hockey League players with retired numbers Category:NHL All-Stars Category:Retired in 1944 Category:St. Michael's Majors alumni Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches Category:Canadian ice hockey players